ARE THE DOLLAR’S GLOBAL CURRENCY DAYS NUMBERED?

The United States is an arrogant power, which, like many other empires (and people), is witnessing its influence decline. Indeed, it is hastening this degeneration by wasting its political and symbolic capital, expending it as if the country still stood at the zenith of its glory.

Because of France, the first steps toward the beginning of the end of the dollar’s hegemony could begin at the next G20 summit. Here’s why: On June 30, the U.S. Federal Reserve backed a Justice Department and New York district court decision to punish the French bank BNP Paribas, one of Europe’s biggest, for routinely violating U.S. sanctions on Iran, Sudan and Cuba. Besides fining the French bank almost $9 billion, the U.S. also suspended approval of its dollar transactions.

French President Francois Hollande is one of several heads of leading economic powers who believes that the United States has gone too far in politicizing the dollar, and he favors putting the topic on the G20 agenda. To punish those who violate U.S. economic sanctions exploits the fact that the dollar is an inevitable part of international transactions. It is one of the few subjects on which France, Germany and Russia publicly agree.